National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (Abbreviation: NUS; ; ; Abbreviated 国大; ) is a comprehensive research university located in Singapore, being the flagship tertiary institution of the country which has a global approach to education and research. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest higher learning institute in Singapore, as well as the largest university in the country in terms of student enrolment and curriculum offered. The university's main campus is located in southwest Singapore at Kent Ridge, with an area of approximately . The Bukit Timah campus houses the Faculty of Law, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and research institutes, while the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore is located at the Outram campus. It is the best university in Asia as of 2013 QS World Rankings. The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had named NUS as the headquarters of his Asian Faith and Globalization Initiative together with Durham University in the UK and Yale University in the USA to deliver an exclusive programme in partnership with Tony Blair Faith Foundation. The National University of Singapore is notable for Kenneth Koh and Tata who has been in the same university from 2012 to 2015. History In September 1904, Tan Jiak Kim led a group of representatives of the Chinese and other non-European communities, and petitioned the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir John Anderson, to establish a medical school in Singapore. Tan, who was the first president of the Straits Chinese British Association, managed to raise $87,077, of which the largest amount of $12,000 came from himself. On 3 July 1905, the medical school was founded, and was known as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School. In 1912, the medical school received an endowment of $120,000 from the King Edward VII Memorial Fund, started by Lim Boon Keng. Subsequently on 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to the King Edward VII Medical School. In 1921, it was again changed to the King Edward VII College of Medicine to reflect its academic status. In 1928, Raffles College was established to promote arts and social sciences at tertiary level for Malayan students. Establishment of the university Two decades later, Raffles College was merged with the King Edward VII College of Medicine to form the University of Malaya on 8 October 1949. The two institutions were merged to provide for the higher education needs of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore. The growth of UM was very rapid during the first decade of its establishment and resulted in the setting up of two autonomous divisions in 1959, one located in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. In 1960, the governments of then Federation of Malaya and Singapore indicated their desire to change the status of the divisions into that of a national university. Legislation was passed in 1961 establishing the former Kuala Lumpur division as the University of Malaya while the Singapore division was renamed the University of Singapore on 1 January 1962. Present form The National University of Singapore was formed with the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University in 1980. This was done in part due to the government's desire to pool the two institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity, and promote English as Singapore's only main language. The original crest of Nanyang University with three intertwined rings was incorporated into the new coat-of-arms of NUS. NUS began its entrepreneurial education endeavours in the 1980s, with the setting up of the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship in 1988. In 2001, this was renamed the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre (NEC), and became a division of NUS Enterprise. NEC is currently headed by Professor Wong Poh Kam and its activities are organised into 4 areas, including a business incubator, experiential education, entrepreneurship development, and entrepreneurship research. Today, the National University of Singapore has 16 faculties and schools across three campus locations in Singapore – Kent Ridge, Bukit Timah and Outram – and provides a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. In 2008, National University of Singapore (NUS) had planned a monorail-like system which straddles along the NUS campus. The stations are Kent Ridge, Prince George's Park, ISEAS, Temasek, Kent Ridge Drive, Engineering, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, University Health Centre, University Central, King Edward VII, and there are also plans for a branch to University Town (UTown). Their plans has been however, put on hold indefinitely. Education NUS has a semester-based modular system for conducting courses. It adopts features of the British system, such as small group teaching (tutorials) and the American system (course credits). Students may transfer between courses within their first two semesters, enroll in cross-faculty modules or take up electives from different faculties (compulsory for most degrees). Other cross-disciplinary initiatives study programmes include double-degree undergraduate degrees in Arts & Social Sciences and Engineering; Arts & Social Sciences and Law; Business and Engineering; and Business and Law. NUS has 16 faculties and schools, including a Music Conservatory. Currently, it has seven overseas colleges at major entrepreneurial hubs in Shanghai and Beijing (China), Israel, India, Stockholm (Sweden), Silicon Valley and Bio Valley (US). NUS Overseas Colleges The NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme started in 2001, providing students with an educational experience in entrepreneurial and academic hubs around the world. Students spend 6–12 months overseas, interning at start-up companies and taking entrepreneurship related courses at partner Universities. There are 7 colleges, in the Silicon Valley (US), Philadelphia (US), Shanghai (China), Beijing (China), Stockholm (Sweden), India and Israel. The local equivalent is the Innovative Local Enterprise Achiever Development (iLEAD) initiative, where students intern at innovative Singapore companies. This is a 7–8-month programme that cultivates an entrepreneurial mindset, and develops leadership and management skills. NOC set up an entrepreneurial-themed residence, known as N-House. Located within the NUS Prince George's Park residence, this houses about 90 students, who are graduates of the NOC and iLEAD programmes. Entrepreneurial activities are also organised by the N-House residents, and these include entrepreneurial sharing sessions, business idea pitching and networking events. University rankings NUS has been consistently ranked among the best in both Singapore and Asia. The ARWU (2013) placed it in the range of 100–150 worldwide and the best in Singapore. Moreover, in the same academic year, the QS World University Rankings (2013/14) ranked NUS 24th within the world and 1st within Asia, whilst the independent QS Asian University Rankings (2013) considered it to be the second of the list. Furthermore, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2012–13) placed NUS at 26th in the world and second in Asia, when its World Reputation Rankings regarded it 22nd globally. In the 2011 rankings, Forbes ranked the NUS Business School's Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme which has emerged top in Singapore and Asia on Forbes' list and placed fourth Internationally after IESE Business School. The Financial Times places NUS School of Business at 23rd in their global MBA ranking tables. Entrepreneurship NUS began its entrepreneurial education endeavours in the 1980s, with the setting up of the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship in 1988. In 2001, this was renamed the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre (NEC), and became a division of NUS Enterprise. NEC is currently headed by Professor Wong Poh Kam and its activities are organised into 4 areas, including a business incubator, experiential education, entrepreneurship development, and entrepreneurship research. Faculties and schools Arts and Social Sciences FASS majors is organised into three divisions – Asian Studies, Humanities, and Social Sciences – under which 15 departments and programmes are grouped. It is also home to the Office of Programmes which offers four multidisciplinary programmes and five minor Programmes of study, and the Centre for Language Studies which teaches 12 different languages. Business School NUS Business School was founded as the Department of Business Administration in 1965. It has six departments: Accounting, Strategy and Policy, Decision Sciences, Finance, Management and Organization, and Marketing. It was renamed to the present name in 2002. Computing The School of Computing (SoC), established in 1998, has two departments – Computer Science and Information Systems. The department of Computer Science offers three undergraduate degree programmes – Computer Science, Communications and Media, and Computational Biology. Dentistry The Faculty of Dentistry had its early beginnings in 1929 as a Department of Dentistry within the King Edward VII College of Medicine. It was the first dental school to be established in a British colony in the east. The faculty conducts a four-year dental course leading to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree. The undergraduate programme comprises two pre-clinical (first two years) and two clinical years. The Faculty of Dentistry is organised into 3 academic departments covering the disciplines of Oral, and Maxillofacial Surgery, Preventive Dentistry and Restorative Dentistry. Design and Environment The School of Design and Environment (SDE) comprises three departments: Architecture, Building and Real Estate and a Division of Industrial Design. Degree courses in building and estate management were first offered in 1969 in the then Department of Building and Estate Management. This was subsequently changed to the School of Building and Real Estate. In June 2000, the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Real Estate changed its name to the School of Design & Environment. As a result of this change, Building and Real Estate were established as separate departments. Engineering The Faculty of Engineering (FOE) was launched in 1968. It is the largest faculty in the university. In 2011 NUS Engineering was ranked 9th in the world for engineering and technology by the QS World University Rankings and 19th by the Times Higher Education. In the 2012 QS World Subject Ranking, NUS engineering excelled, ranking 5th in Civil and Mechanical Engineering, 7th in Chemical, Materials and Industrial Engineering, 9th in Computer Engineering and 11th in Electrical Engineering. FOE consists of several divisions/departments. These divisions/departments are: Bioengineering; Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Civil & Environmental Engineering; Electrical & Computer Engineering; Engineering Science Programme; Industrial & Systems Engineering; Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Division of Engineering and Technology Management. Law The law school was first established as a Department of Law in the then University of Malaya in 1956. The first law students were admitted to the Bukit Timah campus of the university the following year. In 1977, the faculty shifted to the Kent Ridge campus, but in 2006 it relocated back to the Bukit Timah site. Apart from the traditional LLB which runs for four years, the law school also offers double honours degrees in Business Administration & Law, Economics & Law, Law & Life Sciences, and a concurrent degree program in Law & Public Policy. For graduate students, the law school offers coursework LLM specialisations in areas such as Corporate and Financial Services Law, Intellectual Property & Technology Law, International & Comparative Law, Maritime Law and Asian Legal Studies. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine was first established as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905. The School comprises departments such as the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Anaesthesia, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Diagnostic Radiology, Epidemiology and Public Health, Medicine, Microbiology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Paediatrics, Pathology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Psychological Medicine, and Surgery. The School uses the British undergraduate medical system, offering a full-time undergraduate programme leading to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). For Nursing, the Bachelor of Science (Nursing) (conducted by the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies) is offered. In 2011, the School is ranked as the top medical school in Asia and 12th in the world overall by the QS World University Rankings by Subject (Medicine). Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore The Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore is a collaboration between Duke University in North Carolina, United States and the National University of Singapore. It follows the American model of post-baccalaureate medical education. Students begin their medical studies after earning a bachelor’s degree. In this way, Duke-NUS is able to offer an opportunity for students with the potential to excel in the field of medicine and biomedical sciences. Science The Faculty of Science (FOS) comprises the departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics, Pharmacy, Physics, and Statistics & Applied Probability. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy was formally established in 2004 as an autonomous graduate school of the National University of Singapore. Although the School was formally launched in 2004, it inherited NUS' Public Policy Programme, which was established in 1992 in partnership with Harvard University's John F Kennedy School of Government. NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS) was established in 2003. The principal purpose of NGS is "to promote integrative PhD research encompassing both laboratory work and coursework programmes which not only transcend traditional subject boundaries but also provides students with a depth of experience about science and the way it is carried out". NGS’ PhD programmes are firmly anchored in cross-disciplinary research. It offers a spectrum of research areas, spanning science, engineering, related aspects of medicine, and interactive & digital media. NGS also offers the following PhD degree programmes. • Joint NUS-Imperial College Phd Programme • NUS PhD-MBA Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) is a collaboration between NUS and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Singapore's first conservatory of music, YSTCM was founded as the Singapore Conservatory of Music in 2001. The School was renamed Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in recognition of a gift from the family of the late Dr Yong Loo Lin in memory of his daughter. Entry Requirements Undergraduate / Bachelor Degree NUS entry requirements for undergraduate students is a good Level 12 or equivalent education. Having a good English language certificate such as IELTS or TOEFL is also necessary because all subject in NUS are taught in English. NUS will then evaluate all candidates based on submitted data to determined approval of admission. Graduate / Master Degree For graduate or master degree, NUS requirements are more complicated. Every student has to submit GRE or GMAT to demonstrate academic ability and TOEFL or IELTS for language ability when applying. Benchmark for GRE score is 320 (verbal and quantitative) and 3.5 (analytical) or GMAT score of 650 and above. While for IELTS or TOEFL Internet Based Test (IBT), the minimum requirement is 6.0 or 90 respectively. Residential colleges NUS University Town The NUS University Town (UTown) opened in August 2011. Located across the NUS Kent Ridge campus; this is where some 2,400 undergraduate students, 1,700 graduate students and 1,000 researchers will work, live, and learn in close proximity. There are two residential colleges (Cinnamon and Tembusu Colleges), an Education Resource Centre and a Graduate Residence. When fully completed, there will be another two residential colleges for undergraduate students. Cinnamon College Cinnamon College houses the University Scholars Programme. The USP residential college will house 600 students and contain the administrative and faculty offices for USP and teaching classrooms. USP students will take modules at the college and follow the current USP curriculum. They will be required to take eight multidisciplinary modules specially designed for USP students, including the Writing and Critical Thinking module and University Scholars Seminars. Students will have various options to fulfill their USP advanced curriculum requirements that include individual research with faculty mentors, and industrial and entrepreneurial attachments. Tembusu College Tembusu College is one of the first two Residential Colleges in University Town, a new extension to the main NUS campus at Kent Ridge. Tembusu houses mainly undergraduates, in addition to resident faculty, distinguished visiting scholars, and a few graduate fellows. Freshmen (matriculating first-year students) enrolling in any NUS faculty or programme apply to the College at the same time they apply to NUS. Entry is competitive (an essay-based application followed by an interview) as only 200–230 students can be enrolled in any given year. Some students from non-modular faculties (whose course requirements may be reduced or waived) and students from overseas exchange programmes add to the residential mix. Students from any NUS faculty are eligible to apply. The College offers five multi-disciplinary modules fulfilling the "University-Level Requirements" (2 General Education modules, 2 Breadth modules, and 1 Singapore Studies module) which most NUS undergraduates must read to graduate. Students read the rest of their modules in their home faculties. A University Town Residential Programme Certificate is issued to eligible students along with the regular degree scroll. Students from non-modular faculties (i.e. Law, Medicine, and Dentistry) also belong to the College, but with course-work tailored to their specific programmes. The Rector of Tembusu College is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large and former U.N. Ambassador Prof. Tommy Koh, who is also the former Dean of the NUS Faculty of Law. Teaching centres NUS has a variety of teaching centres including: *Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning *Centre for Instructional Technology which provides for the exploration, development and application of digital and audio-visual technologies to support and enhance teaching and learning. This is done through the NUS-developed Integrated Virtual Learning Environment and by developing new applications/services and incorporating multimedia content in courses for academia. *Centre for English Language Communication *Institute of Systems Science which offers professional information technology continuing education to managers and IT practitioners. NUS High School of Mathematics and Science NUS High School of Mathematics and Science is a school specialising in math and science, and provides secondary and pre-tertiary education to many students with an inclination to these fields. Research Among the major research focuses at NUS are biomedical and life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, nanoscience and nanotechnology, materials science and engineering, infocommunication and infotechnology, humanities and social sciences, and defence-related research. One of several niche research areas of strategic importance to Singapore being undertaken at NUS is bioengineering. Initiatives in this area include bioimaging, tissue engineering and tissue modulation. Another new field which holds much promise is nanoscience and nanotechnology. Apart from higher-performance but lower-maintenance materials for manufacturing, defence, transportation, space and environmental applications, this field also heralds the development of accelerated biotechnical applications in medicine, health care and agriculture. Research institutes and centres Currently, NUS hosts 21 university-level research institutes and centres in various fields such as research on Asia, risk management, logistics, engineering sciences, mathematical sciences, biomedical and life sciences, nanotechnology to marine studies. Besides that, NUS also hosts three Research Centres of Excellence which are the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Centre for Quantum Technologies and Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore – a partner in Singapore's fifth Research Centre of Excellence (RCE). Besides University-level RICs, NUS also has close affiliation with many National Research Centres / Institutes. A special mention is required for the Logistics Institute – Asia Pacific which is a collaborative effort between NUS and the Georgia Institute of Technology for research and education programs in logistics. Major research facilities Comparative Medicine is set up to provide professional and technical service for laboratory animal care, veterinary medical services, and animal research project support for NUS staff and students. National University Medical Institutes focuses its efforts on the development of centralised research facilities and services for the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in NUS and developing research programs in cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Industry and external partnerships Industry Liaison Office The NUS Industry Liaison Office (ILO) manages the University’s technology transfer and promotes research collaborations with industry and partners. ILO manages NUS intellectual property, commercialises its intellectual assets and facilitates the spinning off of technologies into start-up companies. Ms Irene Cheong is the Director of ILO. Some recent industry partnerships enabled by ILO include a research agreement with Agilent, a licensing agreement with Cambridge Display Technology (a Sumitomo Chemical Group company), and a partnership with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics. NUS spin-off companies supported by ILO include BioMers, Gatekeeper Laboratories, Clearbridge BioMedics, Clearbridge VitalSigns, and BioLynx Technologies. ILO has set up the Research to Market (R2M) portal, to showcase NUS technologies and engage with industry. Technology sectors include the life sciences, interactive digital media, physical sciences and multi-disciplinary technologies. Another activity organised by ILO is the Technology Commercialisation Forum (TCF), an annual event that brings together industry, academia, researchers, investors and entrepreneurs to examine trends and issues involved in commercialising technology. In 2012, ILO has collaborated with the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) to organise TCF concurrently with AUTM Asia. ILO organises technology specific events, looking to facilitate technology commercialisation in industry sectors. TechLaunch is an event that focuses on technologies in the field of augmented reality, media search, image processing, gaming, language processing, web analysis and video processing. Yale-NUS Yale-NUS, also known as Yale NUS College, is a liberal arts college in Singapore which opened in August 2013, as a joint project of Yale University, and the National University of Singapore. Pericles Lewis, a professor at Yale, has been appointed the founding president, effective 1 July 2012. Campus facilities and resources IT and computing services The IT facilities and network are generally provided by its central IT department, Computer Centre. NUSNET is used in research, teaching, learning and administration. In 2004, a campus-wide grid computing network based on UD Grid MP was deployed, connecting at least 1,000 computers. This becomes one of the largest such virtual supercomputing facilities in the region. Library services The NUS Libraries comprises 7 libraries, namely, the Central Library, the Chinese Library, the CJ Koh Law Library, the Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library, the Medical Library, the Music Library, and the Science Library. Its primary clients are the NUS and NUS-affiliated research institutes, students, teaching, research and administrative staff members, as well as a sizeable group of external members. Its collection encompasses subjects in architecture, building and real estate, business, dentistry, engineering, computer science, the humanities and social sciences, law, medicine, music, nursing and science. As of June 2010, there are close to 1.5 million unique titles, and 23,290 microform resources in the collection. Student accommodation There are about 6,000 residential places distributed between Halls of Residence and Student Residences on campus. There is a free Internal Shuttle Bus Service that plies the entire campus seven days a week. Halls of residence NUS has 6 Halls of Residence with about 3,000 residential places. Each hall has a Senior Common Room Committee (SCRC) comprising the Resident Fellows (staff). Headed by a Hall Master, which is tasked to look after residents' well being. Residents are represented by elected student members to the Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC), which helps to promote the hall's social and cultural life. The six Halls of Residence are: * Eusoff Hall (345 single rooms; 70 double rooms) * Kent Ridge Hall (507 single) * King Edward VII Hall (350 single; 60 double) * Raffles Hall (213 single; 128 double) * Sheares Hall (509 single) * Temasek Hall (345 single; 70 double) Student residences NUS also has 3 Student Residences for undergraduate students with clusters of 11 to 15 single rooms with their own kitchen and bathroom facilities. Kitchen and dining areas are equipped with basic cooking appliances. The newly built university town houses Graduate Residence for graduate students with the option of both apartments and single rooms. Each residence has a team of Resident Assistants (senior students) and Resident Advisors (either an academic or non-academic staff) to assist with any concerns that students may have. The 3 Student Residences are: * Kuok Foundation House * Prince George's Park Residences * Ridge View Residences * Graduate Residences List of principal officers The following table is a list of the principal officers of the National University of Singapore's predecessors. Note that the office of the President of Raffles College was renamed Principal of Raffles College from 1938 See also * S3 Asia MBA – Joint MBA program by Fudan University, Korea University and NUS * National University Hospital * List of universities in Singapore References External links * National University of Singapore official site * National University of Singapore NUScast YouTube channel Category:National University of Singapore Category:ASEAN University Network Category:Asia-Pacific Association for International Education Category:Association of Pacific Rim Universities Singapore, National University of Category:National universities Category:Queenstown, Singapore Category:Statutory boards of the Singapore Government Category:Tanglin Category:Universities in Singapore